Florida Atlantic students lining up for Owls basketball games and getting turned away
BOCA RATON — A line of 150 students stood orderly outside the gate entrance at Florida Atlantic University’s Eleanor Baldwin Arena at 7 p.m. on Jan. 16.
The tipoff had just occurred between the Florida Atlantic Owls and Wichita State Shockers. Nobody was being admitted into the bandbox gymnasium. A reporter recording the scene was told by an FAU security chief to stop. “Predators," the security man said.
Indeed, FAU’s basketball program is not used to this type of scrutiny, not used to these types of crowds, not used to these types of skyrocketing ticket prices. Not used to a secondary ticket market evolving.
The students continued their wait. The 750-seat portion of the arena reserved for students was at capacity. The kids outside in line waited for a fellow student to desert the game. As it happened, several dozen were turned away.
Welcome to Owls mania, basketball-style.
“It’s a great problem to have," Deputy Athletic Director Mike DeGeorge said. “It’s the first time at Florida Atlantic we’ve experienced something like this. It’s not an exact science. We keep the line, and it’s one in, one out."
To date, FAU has announced a sellout for its first eight home games — 3,161. The Owls, ranked 22nd in the latest AP Poll (24th in the USA Today poll) and coming off their Cinderella run to the 2023 Final Four in Houston after a first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, host North Texas on Sunday. It will be 3,161 strong again — as it will be for their final five home games to watch coach Dusty May’s “Beach Boys."
Jimmy Butler, Aleksander Barkov attend the Wichita State game
At the Wichita State game, Miami Heat superstar Jimmy Butler sat courtside, as did Florida Panthers centerpiece Aleksander Barkov. Butler, whose Heat held training camp at FAU in October, spent the first half posing for pictures with random fans during timeouts.
Barkov had the shorter commute. He lives in Boca Raton.
“Our athletic trainer, Tim Wittenauer, is a huge college basketball fan," Barkov told The Post. “We’ve gone to the University of Miami and now FAU has a really good team and I’m five minutes away. It was an easy decision for me to join him. What I saw there and experienced there was just amazing from the start to the finish. I enjoyed my time there."
FAU, which stands 16-4, rallied in the second half to secure an 86-77 victory against the Shockers. “That," DeGeorge said, “was a great crowd."
Under the ticket hierarchy, FAU students enter for free as long as they claim their ticket online the day before. There have been as many as 1,100 claims for a game — more than the 750 seats allotted. “It doesn’t guarantee a seat," DeGeorge said. “You still have to stay in line."
The rest of the place is sold out via season tickets. FAU didn’t need to sell single-game tickets before the season, sensing it would sell out just on season ticket sales. There are exceptions. The school hands out a few hundred tickets to the visiting school. Usually, the school returns about 100.
“The demand is wild," DeGeorge said. “The holiday game (vs. East Carolina on Jan. 2) we put more tickets on sale from the returns from the visiting team and those went right away."
In addition, knowing the student claims were down during holiday break, it put some of those seats on sale to the public and they were gobbled up like turkey.
Owls' Final Four appearance saw season ticket prices double
With high demand comes higher prices. Basic economics.
There are two levels of seats in the arena. According to FAU, upper-level seats doubled in price from $175 for one season ticket to $350. The lower-bowl seats climbed from $325 a season ticket to $600.
Courtside seats rose from $1,250 a seat to $3,000. According to DeGeorge, 92 of the 100 courtside seats renewed at that high price.
One of those VIP seat “donors" is dentist Richard Staller. Staller said his four VIP seats soared from $3,000 combined to $12,000. Staller has a practice in Boca Raton and also works on the teeth of FAU’s athletes.
“It was time to increase the prices anyway," Staller said. “Obviously, last season’s run was a bolster. If you want those good seats, you have to make the donation to have the ability to buy the seats. The university is important to me. They wanted Dusty (May) to stay so they had an increase of over a million dollars. If you want the players to stay, you got to increase the NIL money. If you want a good team, that’s what you have to do."
(DeGeorge said ticket revenue does not go to NIL.)
The soaring prices haven’t quelled turnout. “It shows everyone wants to see a winner," Staller said. “It is a good thing. It’s a better atmosphere than staying home and watching CNN and Fox."
On this frenzied night vs. Wichita State, with the guard-heavy Owls heating up from 3-point land in the second half, there were some empty seats in the upper-level corners.
“In a small building, you’ll see every empty seat, unfortunately," DeGeorge said. “It’s tickets that are sold."
It’s standard season ticket holders who usually don’t go to all the games. But, according to athletic department sources, those tickets in the top corners are being purchased by brokers and put on the secondary market, selling for as high as $100. Not all are being snapped up.
One student diehard, Caden Marshall, who runs a fan website Barstool FAU, says he sees those scattered empty seats and says: “Those locals need to be going to all the games. We’re 23rd in the nation."
Marshall also thinks it unfair that arena officials don’t put students into the scattered vacant upper corner seats. The 2023-24 seating chart has the student section in the end zone and the lower bowl across from the scorer’s table. Last season, nobody got turned away as students were permitted in the upper deck. “If you’re late, you’re not coming in, but we’re not always filling those upper seats," Marshall said.
Despite the fan delirium at the Wichita State game, Marshall was also hypercritical of his fellow students’ cheering strategies.
“Another thing I want to say on the record," Marshall said. “I don’t know why FAU students cheer when we’re on offense but are quiet when we’re on defense. I don’t get it. It’s terrible. We need to be cheering on defense and making crazy noises. You don’t see that in big-college schools."
More: How Florida Atlantic men's basketball became 'big brother' to the team at St. John Paul II High
New season ticket holder Tom Miskela said last season he had too much trouble buying single-game seats so he pounced, despite the rising season ticket price.
“The atmosphere is great after what they did last season," Miskela said. “Going in, there was high expectations. I expected to see a little more but we’re still seeing a quality product out there and they’re coming to see that product. It’s a hard ticket to come by."
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: FAU Owls selling out home basketball games as ticket demand up after Final Four
